When the two arrived at the address Ginny had told Harry earlier, they were surprised to find it empty. Not just void of people, but completely empty of everything. No furniture, no counters, not even any walls aside from the four main ones. Just...nothing.

"You sure this is right?" Penny asked.

"Doesn't look like a muggle or wizard home, does it." Harry replied. "Ginny!" He called out.

Penny walked over towards the edge of the house, near the only door. "I don't think they are here."

"Dammit." Harry sighed. "I was worried about that."

"What do you mean?" Penny turned to him.

"He said 'my place', remember?"

"Yeah." Penny looked around. "This is his house. Ginny got the address from the school."

"Exactly." Harry said, pushing his glasses up on his nose. "This is the address for the school. He's really living at Azkaban."

Penny's blood froze. She shook her head slowly. "No, no, no we can't...that's not right." She turned to the door. "Maybe they're outside."

"Penny." Harry grabbed her shoulder. "I don't like it any more than you, but we have to assume that's what he meant."

"Ginny said that place is crawling with dementors! And death eaters!"

"And great wizards."

"Imprisoned!" Penny pushed his hand off her shoulder. "We're no match for that alone!"

"I'll get the Aurors-"

"You heard him!" Penny snapped back. "He knows all their tricks!"

"We've been in worse situations." Harry's face darkened. "I've been in far worse."

"Harry, this isn't one powerful wizard, this is an army!"

"A quarter of the size of the one that took on Hogwarts!"

Penny flinched. The reminder of the war brought back images of her sister. She turned away. How many good people were lost in that war? How many lives ruined by the ones gone? She didn't think she had it in her to go through another was like that, even if it was a smaller fight. "I-I can't."

"Penny." Harry's voice softened and he placed his hand back on her shoulder. "We're running out of time. They have Ginny. And your parents. If we stop them now, they won't reach the muggles."

This brought thoughts of Artie to her mind. Poor Artie. Even if he could walk, he still wouldn't stand a chance against a death eater. Kurt better be taking care of him. Penny sighed. "We aren't prepared."

Harry gave her a half-smile. "Are we ever?"

Penny muttered a soft laugh. "Right."

"Go to Hogwarts and gather everyone up. I'll go get Kingsley and the other Aurors and meet you back in the Gryffindor common room. We can do this, Penny."

Penny nodded, but she didn't really believe him. Before she could change her mind, he apparated away, leaving her alone.

"Penny!" Neville exclaimed, wrapping her in an unexpected hug. "You're back!"

"We were afraid the Narwals had eaten your school." Luna said from behind him.

Penny's face was pale, but she spoke strongly. "We have to gather everyone up. They've taken Ginny to Azkaban again. Harry's getting the Aurors right now."

"What?" Neville gasped, leaning back. "Azkaban?"

Penny smiled as best she could. "What's a measly prison after you-know-who, right?"

"It won't be pretty." Luna replied in her dreamy voice. "But I suppose it's worth a shot."

"I'll go to the Room of Requirement and get whoever is there. Neville, Luna? Can you gather the rest and meet us in the Gryffindor common room?"

Luna nodded, taking Neville's hand. "Sounds like a plan."

"Wait, I don't know-" Neville protested.

"It's okay, Neville." Luna smiled. "We all knew this was coming."

Penny waved, and headed off towards the common room. She wish she'd stayed at Hogwarts. At least here she could have kept training. How long had it been since she studied magic? That could only hurt her. She winced. And all her friends thought she ditched them. She still remember how Marcus told her Ginny said she abandoned them. It wasn't true, but in a way, it was, wasn't it? She ran away. Granted, it was her mother's idea, but her mother was a simple muggle. If Penny had wanted to, she could have stayed. After all, Hogwarts was one of the safest places there was. Well, except during the war.

When she reached the common room, she found Seamus inside, reading. Hermoine was off to the side with Ron, and some first year Penny didn't know was sitting by the fireplace.

At the sight of the red-headed girl, Hermione gasped. "Penny!"

Ron glanced up. "You're back! Where's Ginny?"

Penny shook her head and raced over to them. "We have to gather everyone up. They've taken Ginny to Azkaban."

"Again!" Ron's hands tightened into fists. "Where were you to keep her safe?"

"Ron!" Hermione placed a hand on his fist. "What happened?"

"Brian tortured Harry, then he apparated away with Ginny. He said to meet him at his place. That's the only place he can mean."

Hermione frowned. "Yes, that's true."

"But Azkaban!" Ron sputtered. "Are you mad?"

"We don't have a choice." Penny said.

"No, we do." Hermione shook her head. "But it's the only good one."

"Hermione!" Ron gasped.

"Ron, we fought a war already!" Hermione said. "And what have we done since? Sat around and waited. No more. It's time we went after them."

Penny and Ron both stared, mouth agap, at Hermione.

"What?" Hermione said, getting to her feet. "Harry can't be the only one ready to take on the Death Eaters."

"That's my girl." Ron grinned.

"What's the plan?" Hermione asked, turning her attention soley to Penny.

"Room of Requirement." Penny shook her head, getting back on task. "Gather everyone we can here. We'll need all the help we can get."

Penny was surprised to find the Room of Requirement actually full. Mostly it was by a bunch of younger years that she didn't know or barely recognized. Still, they were there. And they were... training?

"What... what's this?" Penny asked as the trio passed a group of fourth years practicing disarming.

"You think just because you left we'd stop protecting ourselves?" Hermione flipped her nose ever so slightly up into the air. "Please, Penny. Don't think so little of us."

"After well, after everything started back up again, people just gravitated back here." Ron said, thankfully explaining things more plainly. "No one said anything, we just all sort of wound up here. And more and more came back everytime."

"It's ...amazing." Penny gasped, looking around at all the people. Not that she'd dare let them go into battle, but then again, who was she to decide. "We need to gather everyone who's willing to fight and go back to the common room."

Hermoine flicked her wand in the air, causing a loud peircing snap. The room fell silent. She cleared her throat. "This is it." Her voice was loud, but hoarse. She probably had as much trouble saying them as Penny did hearing it. "This is what we've been working towards. I know for most of you, the war's shadow is still too much for you to bear jumping into this. That, I understand. But know this - our friends, our family - they are dieing right now. We need to go help them. Now's the time."

She paused for a moment, then looked over at Ron.

Ron took the chance to jump in. "Gryphindor Common Room. For those that'll join us. Now."

Hermione nodded, then looked over at Penny.

Penny didn't have anything more to add. Half of her wanted to get her revenge on Brian. The other half wanted nothing to do with the war at all. The confliction was the only thing keeping her moving, which was strange. Usually it kept people from acting. But no. The Death Eaters crossed the line when they went to WMHS. They brought muggles into the mix. That was low, even for a Death Eater. Well, actually, no. That's exactly what a Death Eater would do.

Penny shook her head. She was thinking too much.

"Come on." Hermione took Penny's hand in hers. "Let go back upstairs and see how many come with us."

A/N:

WOW! Ok, I know. Been forever. I actually lost the file for my story! ACK! So this is a complete re-write of this chapter. So sorry about that. Thank you SO MUCH for all the reviews and comments. It's the ONLY reason I keep writing this. Hopefully I can watch HP this week or something to re-motivate myself. Thanks again, and I hope to have the next chapter written by the end of the week!